What actually is world theatre? Who is involved, and where and how is it performed? The authors provide answers by initially focusing on Spanish Baroque playwright, Calderón de la Barca’s El gran teatro del mundo (1636). His ‘literary cathedral’ continues to fascinate theatre makers around the globe, and particularly in Einsiedeln/Switzerland. This community’s world theatre tradition is highlighted with special emphasis on Thomas Hürlimann’s Calderón-adaptation, Das Einsiedler Welttheater (2007), an example of world theatre that is highly relevant to audiences today. The authors contribute to the discussion of cultural transfer in drama and theatre by providing insights into how this leading Swiss writer’s play was translated and adapted for performances in Cork/Ireland (2010). By providing the text of the original play side by side with its English translation, and through their extensive commentary, the authors seek to make Hürlimann’s play known beyond the German-speaking countries and, by using the unique Einsiedeln ‘Community Theatre’-model as an example, to stimulate an intercultural dialogue about different forms of world theatre – in the field of theatre practice as well as in teaching and research.

When I first heard the phrase “performative teaching and learning” I was reminded of a quote from Wittgenstein that “a new word is like a fresh seed thrown on the ground of the discussion.” These are the opening words of an article in this volume of the SCENARIO book series, whose goal it is to advance the intercultural dialogue within drama and theatre pedagogy. The six contributions to this anthology, in both English and German, explore performative teaching, learning, and research from multiple perspectives: general education, foreign language didactics, as well as drama and theatre pedagogy. Since the word “performative” features in many languages, we advocate its use – particularly in intercultural contexts – to characterise approaches to teaching, learning, and research that emerge from the dynamic interplay of pedagogy and the performing arts.